HiddenPaw

I'm not a fruit grower. I'm not really clued up on developments of crop modification. Without wanting to sound flippant, what is your point?

There's always a cost for a cost - in order to save on spraying and management costs, consider the expense of pulling out old vines and purchasing and planting new 'modified' young vines which will yield no produce for a couple of seasons (and therefore no income for the farmer).....

Megalania

Just observation. Being aware of what goes into your mouth is a natural precaution. Animals have been doing that for about 600 million years.

Goodpubmisser

Waste from the drains may get into the drinking water and cadmium is a highly toxic chemical the use of which is very carefully controlled in the developed world and special tanks and disposal methods are used.
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Yes I am sure this happens all the time



I just noticed this reply. Waste water sometimes gets recycled into drinking water via purification plants. Purification plants only remove certain chemicals, bacteria etc.

In many large cities in the world they say "If you drink a glass of water it has been drunk by at least three other people first".

So your comment of "Yes I am sure it happens all the time" made sarcastically, is in fact correct.

Some of the toxic effects of cadmium are as follows:

The most serious consequence of chronic cadmium poisoning is cancer (lung and prostate).

The first observed chronic effect is generally kidney damage, manifested by excretion of excessive (low molecular weight) protein in the urine. Cadmium also is believed to cause pulmonary emphysema and bone disease (osteomalcia and osteoporosis). The latter has been observed in Japan ("itai-itai" disease) where residents were exposed to cadmium in rice crops irrigated with cadmium-contaminated water.

Cadmium may also cause anemia, teeth discoloration (Cd forms CdS) and loss of smell (anosmia).